Twilight Rewrite (Re-Uploaded)
by theredsnakeking
Summary: When Bella Swan moves to the town of Forks Washington, she meets the mysterious Edward Cullen and is brought into a world that changes her life forever. This is a reimagining of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series
1. Homecoming

_There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable_

 _-_ **Mark Twain**

* * *

 _ **This is meant to fix the problems of twilight. While I will use the text/plot from the book, I will also add in original content to give more originality to this story so it will be different from the source material including the characters.**_

* * *

Bella kept the car windows down and let the cool air hit her face as her mother drove her to the airport. She took in the sight of the beautiful blue sky of Phoenix; for it would be the last time she would ever see it.

She was moving to the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State. A small town named Forks existed under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rained on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. When Bella was just a few months old, her mother took her and left Forks, and she had been spending every summer there with her dad, Charlie, until she was fourteen.

As much as she loved her dad, she hated Forks. She hated the rain. Anything to do with the cold or wet made her clumsiness worse.

She would miss Phoenix. She would miss the sun and the blistering heat.

"Bella," her mother called before she got on the plane. "Honey, you don't have to do this, you know."

People have always said Bella and her mother looked alike; her mother had ebony skin, black shoulder length hair, and laugh lines. She didn't want to leave her loving, erratic, harebrained mother, but Renee had her new husband Phil. She also knew her mother was unhappy she couldn't see Phil a lot because of his minor league baseball job, so Bella decided to move with Charlie so her mom and Phil could spend more time together.

"Mom, I want to go," she lied as she put on her best smile.

"All right. I'll see you soon, okay?" She smiled back. "You call me whenever you want to come home, and tell your father I said hello."

Tears welled up in her mother's eyes.

"Mom, I'll be okay. I promise. I love you so much." She hugged her mother, holding back her own tears.

The flight from Phoenix to Seattle took four hours, another hour to Port Angeles, and then another hour to drive down to Forks. Bella was nervous about the car ride with her dad since both of them were awkward around each other and didn't really express their feelings to one another.

Nonetheless, Charlie was still happy to have his daughter live with him since he only saw her for the summer. He had already enrolled her in school and was going to help find Bella a car.

When she landed in Port Angeles, her dad was waiting with his police cruiser. He was the chief of police and another reason Bella wanted to get a car since she refused to ride around in a cop car for the remainder of her stay.

As she got off the plane and met him in the lobby, he gave her an awkward, one-armed hug. "It's great to see you again, Bells." He smiled as he got her luggage. "How is Renee doing?"

"It's great to see you, too, dad. Mom's fine too." She smiled back. She wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face. Her dad still looked the same. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, a stubble beard, and ivory skin.

She only had a few bags. Bella and her mother had pooled their resources for her winter clothes, which fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.

"Bells, I got a good car for you. It was really cheap," Charlie said as he started the engine of the car.

She looked suspicious. "Really? What kind of a car?"

"I got you a truck, actually. It's a Chevy."

"Where did you get it?"

"My friend, Billy Black, from La Push. You remember him, don't you?"

La Push is a Indian reservation on the coast.

"Not really."

"You were really young. He used to go fishing with us every summer."

That explained why she didn't remember him.

"Well, he's in a wheelchair now. So he offered it to me for free."

"Does it run good?" she asked, her tone sounding skeptically.

He chuckled a little. "Billy did some work on the engine, but he got it back in 1984. Probably bought it in the late fifties, early sixties, but," he said before she could say anything, "it's a good car. Very cheap, and I'll pay for any mechanical problems you have."

"Dad, you didn't have to do that. I was going to get a job and pay for a car, but thank you. That was really sweet. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, sweetie." he said, flushed with embarrassment.

They continued to make small talk about the weather, which was wet, and then the awkward conversation ended. Bella stared out the window in silence.

If there was one thing Bella could say about Forks, it was beautiful. Almost everything was green, from the trees to the trunks with moss and the ground with ferns. The air even smelled sweet. It was almost like an alien planet.

After ten minutes, they finally reached the house. It was the same as always-a small white, two-story house with two bedrooms that Charlie bought with her mother in the early days of their marriage. Parked in the driveway was a faded red pick-up truck with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab.

"No way." she whispered as they pulled in the driveway. As soon as Charlie parked, she immediately went to her new truck, in awe at how perfect it was.

"Do you like it?" He was smiling.

"Dad, I love it so much! Thank you!"

He turned red with embarrassment again. "You're welcome. Now, let's get you settled in."

It only took one trip to get all her stuff upstairs. Bella got the west bedroom that faced the front yard of the house. It was still the same. The room had a wooden floor, light blue walls, a peaked ceiling, and white laced curtains around the window. The only change Charlie made was switching her old baby crib for a bed and a desk with a MacBook Pro on top of it. The rocking chair from when she was a baby was still in the corner.

There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which she had to share with Charlie and she tried not to think about it that much. One of the best things about Charlie was that he didn't hover. Once he made sure she had everything she needed, he left her alone to unpack. She was already feeling a little homesick.

Once she was done unpacking her clothes, she flopped down onto her bed and stared up at her ceiling.

"Don't fucking stress. You can do this," she said to herself.

* * *

When Bella awoke the next morning, after a rough night of sleep due to the heavy rain, all she could see was a thick fog outside her window, which made her feel claustrophobic. To be honest, Bella would rather stay at home then face her new school, which had a total of only three hundred and fifty-seven – and now fifty-eight – students, less than her old school back home.

Bella hated attention, and she knew she would be the new school gossip. She never really paid much attention to gossiping, but she would be lying if she said she didn't wonder what people would think of her. What would people expect? Bella was nowhere near an athletic type since she lacked hand-eye coordination or anything that goes on back in Phoenix.

She didn't relate well to people her age. Maybe the truth was that she didn't relate well to people, period. Even her mother, who she was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with her.

Sometimes Bella wondered if she was seeing the same things through her eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in her brain.

Regardless of that, Bella was a very pretty girl, even though she never thought about her appearance that much. She was of average height, had medium dark skin with warm orange-red undertones, a heart-shaped face, armpit length black wavy hair, and the same brown eyes just like her dad.

After taking a shower, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed, she went downstairs to see her dad who was already dressed and eating breakfast.

They exchanged a couple of words before Charlie wished her luck and left to go to the police station. After he left, Bella wandered around the house. The kitchen was small, with its dark paneled walls, white cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing had changed.

Next, she headed into the living room. Like the kitchen, everything was the same, from the furniture to the pictures on the mantle. The first picture was of Renee and Charlie's wedding in California. There were also pictures of her as a baby in the hospital after she was born, followed by all of her school pictures up until last year.

It was hard being in this house knowing her dad was not completely over her mother.

After eating a quick bowl of cereal, Bella grabbed her backpack, keys, and jacket before running out to her car. Inside the truck, it was fairly nice. The tan seats had obviously been re-holstered and smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint. It also had a modern radio system that worked well.

When she started the engine, it roared to life, to her relief. The school wasn't hard to find since it was just off the highway like most things. A building with maroon-colored bricks, surrounded by trees and shrubs, came into view. Next to it was sign that read ' _Forks High School'_

Bella parked in front of the first building, which had a sign on the door that read ' _Front Office_ ' and walked down the path into the building. The inside was warm and brightly lit, with warm colored furniture, plants in large plastic pots, and notices and awards on the bulletin board. The office was cut in half by a large counter that had three desks behind it, one which was occupied by a redheaded woman wearing glasses. She turned her attention to Bella as soon as Bella walked in the door.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked.

"Yes. Hi, I'm Isabella Swan," she informed her, and the woman's face lit up with recognition. As expected, Bella knew she would be the topic of gossip. Daughter of divorced chief Swan has finally arrived.

"Of course, dear. I've been expecting you," the secretary said. She dug through a pile of papers on the desk until she found the one she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, with your locker number and combination, and a map of the school. I could show you around if you would like."

"Yes, please," Bella responded. The secretary went over her classes, highlighting the best route to each of them. Then she gave Bella a slip for each of her teachers to sign and return back at the end of the day. She smiled and wished Bella luck.

As Bella went over the map, the other students started to arrive. She went back out to the parking lot and drove her car around the school, following the line of traffic. She was thankful most of the cars were similar to hers and not flashy. The only car that stood out was a shiny black Aston Martin Vanquish S.

She stuffed all of her things in her backpack and sucked in a huge breath, reminding herself that she could do this, and no one was going to bite her. She stepped out of the trunk and followed the crowd into the main building. She located her locker and put her coat and extra stuff into it and proceeded to her first class.

She found the class easily and handed her slip to her teacher, Mr. Mason, who is a tall, balding, white male. He signed her paper, and gave her a reading list and sent her to an empty seat in the back of the room, which Bella was thankful for. She had already read all of the books on the list-Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Faulkner. She debated on whether or not she should use her old essays from back home but decided to wait.

When the bell rang, a boy with dark ocher skin and black hair tied into a tiny bun on the back of his head leaned across the aisle toward her.

"Hi," he greeted warmly. "You're Isabella Swan, right?"

"Just Bella," she corrected. The people nearby then turned their attention to them, which annoyed her.

He ignored the people watching and held out his hand. "Hey, it's nice to meet you. I'm Eric Yorkie," he said, shaking her hand. "Do you need any help with your next class?"

"Uh…" She was silent for a few seconds as she contemplated his question. "Yeah, sure. Why not."

"Cool. The principal asked me to show you around, so I wasn't sure if it was you."

Bella nodded her head in understanding.

"So, what's your next class?" Eric asked as they left the room.

She reached into her pocket to check her schedule. "Um, government with Jefferson in building six."

They began to walk toward the other building on the right side of the school.

"So, you're from Phoenix?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I was born here."

"Must be fun there. Forks is boring as shit," he stated.

Bella smiled a little. "Phoenix is kind of boring too, unless you're the sporty type."

They walked around the cafeteria and steered toward a new building with the room she was looking for.

"Well, this is it," Eric announced. "I guess I'll see you around, maybe at lunch?"

"Yeah sure, and thank you."

"No problem." He gave her a smile before heading off to the building on the other end, and she entered her classroom.

The rest of the morning passed pretty quickly. Bella's Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, whom she already disliked for the subject he taught, was the only teacher to make her introduce herself in front of the class. She felt completely embarrassed and tripped on her boots as she walked back to her seat.

Bella recognized a couple of people from her other classes. Some of them even introduced themselves and asked her about how she liked Forks, which she mostly lied about.

One of the girls, whose name was Jessica Stanley, who sat with her in trig and Spanish decided to walk with her to the cafeteria. Jessica was white, and the same height as Bella with straight brown hair.

After getting their lunch, they sat at full table with Jessica's friends, whose names Bella couldn't remember. The only one she remembered was Eric, the boy from her English class, who gave her a hello which she returned.

Bella was having a conversation with one of the people at the table, and that was when she saw them.

They were by themselves, sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, far from everyone else. Bella couldn't help but stare. There were five of them. They just sat there, taking small bites of their food. What really caught her attention was the fact that none of them looked alike.

Three of them were boys. One was big, muscled like a footballer; he had brown skin, and short, dark brown curly hair. Another one had light ocher skin, was tall; lean, but muscular, with dark blond hair in a wavy undercut. The last one has golden brown skin; was tall, with untidy black hair styled in a modern quiff and has an athletic build, but not as tall as the dark blonde or as buff as the big one.

The two girls were different. One was tall and statuesque. She had light ocher skin and a beautiful figure, like one in a Victoria's Secret ad that made every girl envious. Her hair was dark blonde, gently waving to the middle of her back. The other girl was short and pixie like. She had rich ebony skin and was thin, with small features. Her hair was raven black, cropped short pointing everywhere.

All of them had beautiful brown eyes, like the evening sun shining through an enstatite gemstone. All their features were straight, perfect angular, but this is not why she couldn't look away. Bella couldn't stop staring because they were all so exquisitely, inhumanly beautiful.

The small one rose from her seat with her tray and walked away so gracefully it looked like she belonged on a runway or on Broadway. She dumped her tray and walked out the back door so quickly, Bella hardly saw her. She turned her attention back to the others, who still just sat there.

"Who are they?" Bella asked Jessica.

As Jessica turned to see who she meant, the boy with the untidy hair looked at Bella which made her drop her eyes immediately, flushed with embarrassment.

Jessica giggled, dropping her gaze like Bella had.

"The dark-haired ones are Edward and Emmett Cullen. The one that left was Alice Cullen. The dark blondes are Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They all live with Dr. Cullen and his wife," Jessica spoke under her breath.

Bella looked at the black-haired boy again and saw him picking at his food. She wondered why they had such odd names.

"They're really gorgeous." Bella blushed.

"I know, right!" Jessica agreed excitedly. "They're all dating each other, though. Jasper is with Alice, and Emmett is with Rosalie, but none of them are related except Rosalie and Jasper. I think they're brother and sister. The doctor and his wife are really young, but they only adopted Emmett, Alice, and Edward for some reason. Alice and Edward are the same age as us, and the other three are seniors."

"That's amazing for them to take in all those kids like that, especially when they are so young," Bella said. "Have they always lived in Forks?"

"Nope, they moved here two years ago from somewhere in Alaska." Jessica sounded like it should have been obvious.

"Who's the one with the black hair?" Bella asked as she took a peek at him. To her surprise, the boy was looking at her, too, with a rather frustrated expression. Bella looked away again.

"That's Edward. So fucking beautiful, but don't bother with him. No girl is good enough for him, like I give a damn," she snorted. She sounded extremely bitter, and it almost made Bella laugh.

Bella turned to him one final time, but he wasn't looking anymore. She swore she could see his cheek lift and his mouth open a little as if he were laughing. After a couple more minutes, the bell rung, ending lunch, and the four of them left together, looking just as graceful as the short girl.

* * *

Bella walked to Biology with someone she met at lunch-Angela Weber. She was shy, like Bella, and very nice.

In the classroom, Angela went to sit at a lab table that was already occupied by another. The only available seat was next to Edward Cullen. As she was walking over to the teacher to get her paper signed, she met Edward's eyes, and his expression was completely furious and hostile.

Bella turned away so quickly it almost gave her a whiplash. She stumbled on her feet but was able to catch herself on a table. Before she turned away, she noticed his eyes were completely black with no hint of color in them.

When Mr. Banner signed her slip, he sent her over to Edward since he was the only partner left. Bella made sure to keep her head down going to her seat, shocked by this person's sudden anger toward her.

She didn't look at him as she took her seat, but she could see him move to the edge of his seat from the corner of her eye. She didn't understand. She sniffed her hair to make sure she didn't have a bad odor, but it smelled like strawberries.

As she was taking notes on Mr. Banner's lecture on cellular anatomy, which she had already studied, she occasionally took a peek at Edward. Since the class started, his position never changed, and she saw his hand clutched into a fist on his left leg.

Why was this guy so pissed at her? She has never done anything to him to deserve his nasty attitude. Bella wasn't a violent person, but it took all of her willpower to not slap him across the face with her textbook. She regretted looking at him again, this time because he was glaring, like he wanted to rip her head off her body. It made her flinch away from him and sink into her seat.

The moment the bell rung, he was out of his seat and out the door before anyone.

Bella just stood there staring after him, completely in disbelief about what had just happened. She gathered up her things, holding in how pissed she was, with tears almost welling up. This dude was an asshole, and she refused to shed a tear over him.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.

She turned to see a white boy, who was baby-faced, has blue eyes and curly blond hair.

"Bella," she told him with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Mike Newton."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mike."

"What's your next class? Mine is gym."

"That's where I'm headed too."

"Sweet. We can walk together if you want too?"

She accepted his offer and headed to gym. Mike was really sweet and a good person to talk too. Probably one of the nicest people she'd met today.

"So, what did you do to piss off Edward Cullen?" he asked as they walked into the gym.

She just shrugged her shoulders and played dumb. "I don't know-didn't really pay attention to him."

She waved Mike goodbye and went into the girl's locker room to change. Coach Clapp, the gym teacher, made Bella participate in four volleyball games, even though she tried to stand out. Thank god she only had one more year of this.

When the final bell rang, Bella went back to the office to return her papers. The wind had picked up, which made her wrap her arms around herself.

The office was warm when she arrived, but seeing Edward Cullen there made her tremble and hug herself tighter; his presence sucked all the warmth out of the room. He was arguing with the receptionist in a soft, persuasive voice about changing his biology class to another time. She couldn't believe this. Why did he hate her so much?

Someone came through the door and a gust of wind swirled Bella's hair across her face. Edward stiffened and turned slowly to her, eyes filled with anger.

He turned back to the receptionist. "I guess it's impossible. Thank you for your time," he said in that smooth, velvet voice. He turned and left without a second glance at her.

Bella went up to the desk and handed the woman her slip.

"How was your day, dear?" the woman asked.

"It was fine," she lied, putting on a fake smile.

Bella headed out to her car, ready to go home, and ready to forget Edward Cullen ever existed.


	2. First Meeting

When Bella left school, she went home and grabbed some cash from the jar in the kitchen cupboard to do some grocery shopping. Charlie didn't have any food in the house, and he couldn't cook to save his life, so she had requested to do the cooking for the remainder of her stay.

After doing her shopping from the Thriftway market, Bella returned home, unloaded the groceries, and got started on her homework. Her homework was a five page essay on women's rights, and three trigonometry worksheets. When she was finished, she got started on dinner making steak and baked potatoes. Bella went upstairs to her room to occupy herself with some television when her phone rang.

It was Renee, calling to ask about how Bella's first day went and to talk about Phil's job.

 _"So, baby, listen if spring training goes well me and Phil could be moving to Florida,"_ Renee explained.

Bella heard an operator on the other end asking for a dollar and twenty-five cent for an additional three minutes.

"Mom, where is your phone?"

 _"Okay, I didn't lose my power cord, it ran away screaming. I literally repel technology now."_

Bella just chuckled. "I miss you, Mom."

 _"Aw, baby, I miss you too,"_ Renee cooed, _"but tell me about your new school. What are the kids like? Are there any cute guys? Are they being nice to you?"_

She wasn't going to tell her about Edward. Bella didn't want her mother to overreact and get over-protective.

"They're all very welcoming, I guess."

 _"Uh oh, tell me all about it."_

"It doesn't even matter," Bella said annoyed.

 _"Yes it does, honey."_

"Mom, I have to get dinner ready. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

 _"Okay, I love you,"_ Renee said.

"I love you, too," Bella replied.

After talking with Renee, Bella went back downstairs to take the potatoes out of the oven, and put the steak into the broil. Charlie came home not long after that and they ate dinner, mostly without speaking. They only talked about how each other's day had been.

"Do you know the Cullens?" Bella asked suddenly.

"You mean Dr. Cullen's family? Yeah, why do you ask?"

"They don't seem to fit in that much. People talk about them a lot."

Bella was surprised to see her dad look upset.

"People in this town sometimes," Charlie muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a wonderful surgeon who can work anywhere he wants, and make twice as much. We're all lucky his wife wanted to live here. Never once have I had any trouble with his children, and they all stick together like a real family should, but because they're different, people have to judge them. It's not right."

That was the longest speech Bella had ever heard her dad make.

"They keep to themselves, but they seem like good people." Bella backpedaled.

Charlie nodded in agreement and whispered, "Yeah."

Bella decided not to press the issue any further. When they were finished with dinner, Charlie cleared the table while Bella washed the dishes. After they were done cleaning up, they both said goodnight to each other and Bella went upstairs to her room and fell asleep quickly.

* * *

The weekend was uneventful. Bella had gone over to Jessica's house with Angela to help Jessica pick out an outfit for June Richardson's birthday party. June was a girl from Bella's gym class. There was also a plan for a trip to La Push Beach that Mike was putting together.

Monday at school, Edward wasn't there. He wasn't there on Tuesday either. She planned on confronting him, demanding to know what his problem was, but every time she'd come to school she would only see his family there.

A part of Bella was relived, but another part was upset at the thought of Edward skipping school simply just to avoid her.

The weather had gotten colder when Bella went to school on Thursday. A layer of snow dusted on top of her truck, and had whitened the roads. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid, making the driveway icy. When she made it outside, Bella saw that Charlie had put snow chains on her tires. She made a mental note to thank him later and made her way to school.

In English class, the class had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights which was very easy. When the class had ended, Bella's fifth period biology class along with the second period biology class had all met outside near two buses in the parking lot to meet Mr. Banner and go on a field trip to the Natural Science Museum just outside town.

The wind had picked up, making it colder to Bella's dismay.

"Fuck this weather," Bella said, breathing on her hands while rubbing them together.

Mike Newton came up beside her.

"You don't like the snow?" he asked.

"No. This shit is terrible."

Mike burst out laughing, and then a ball of snow hit the back of his head. They both turned to see Eric with his back turned, playing dumb. As Mike bent down and scooped up two balls of snow, Bella went and sat on the second bus with Jessica and Angela. There was no way she was getting caught in a snowball fight.

Mr. Banner came outside a few seconds later to stop the snow fight, and went to Bella's bus to check attendance. Bella wasn't paying any attention until he called someone she didn't expect.

"Edward Cullen," Mr. Banner called.

Bella turned around quickly to see Edward sitting in the back of the bus by himself, looking more beautiful than ever with his hair saturated by snow. She had noticed something was different about him that she couldn't figure out.

"What are you looking at, Bella?" Jessica interrupted.

In that moment, Edward's eyes met Bella's, and she quickly turned away, face flushed with embarrassment. She had convinced herself the next time she saw him she was going to tell him off, but now here she was acting like a complete coward.

"Edward is staring at you," Angela whispered.

"Does he look pissed?"

She looked confused by Bella's question. "Not really. He just looks curious."

"This whole staring thing you and him keep doing is kind of creepy," Jessica said, chuckling a little.

Bella shoved her playfully. "Just don't look at him."

Jessica turned away and started talking to Angela.

For the rest of the bus ride, Bella sat in silence. She just nodded her head and agreed with whatever Jessica and Angela were saying since she was too busy thinking about Edward. After a while, the buses arrived in front of a white, three-story building. Once inside the building, Mr. Banner split the class into three groups.

Bella was put into Mr. Banner's group with Mike and Angela while the other two were led by two of the staff members. She prayed to whatever higher power that Edward was not in her group, but of course he was anyway since she must have some sort of bad luck.

Her group made their way to the botanical gallery where one of the museum workers was giving a tour. Bella walked over to one of the display glasses examining an artificial plant made like the red huckleberry. She heard someone come up next to her, but she kept her eyes on the display.

"Hello," said a low, musical voice.

She looked up, shocked that Edward was speaking to her. His face was absolutely beautiful along with the slight smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Bella Swan?"

She was confused. Why was he being so polite all of a sudden? He didn't leave a very good impression from their first encounter, but his attitude had completely changed. She decided to go along with it and be nice even though she was still upset with his past behavior.

"Yes," Bella confirmed. "It's nice to meet you, Edward."

Bella turned her attention to another one of the display glasses, then spoke up.

"You seem to be in a better mood," she said.

Edward looked confused. "Excuse me?"

"You looked kind of angry with me last week, and you haven't been in school."

"Yeah, listen…about that." He rubbed the back of neck and frowned sheepishly. "I apologize. I was having some personal issues at home so I couldn't come to school, but my behavior was unacceptable. I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you. I'm sorry, Bella."

"It's okay. I accept your apology," she said, smiling slightly. While she still felt a little angry at him, she respected the fact that he was at least apologizing for his past behavior toward her. Maybe he wasn't a big jerk after all.

They were quiet for a few seconds before Edward spoke. "How are you enjoying the weather?"

Bella started at him and huffed out a laugh.

"Are you really asking me about the weather?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, I don't really like the cold, or the rain for that matter."

"Why would you move to a place like this then?" he asked curiously.

Bella was surprised. No one had ever flat out asked her this, and she wondered why he cared.

"I don't think you'll be that interested."

"Try me," he pressed.

She stared at him for a moment before answering.

"My mother got remarried."

"Oh, when did that happen?"

"Last July. To a guy named Phil."

"You don't like him, or…" Edward trailed off.

"No, that's not it. I like Phil a lot, and he makes my mom happy, so that's all that really matters to me."

Edward stared, completely engrossed in Bella's story, and she couldn't understand why he was so fascinated with her life.

"If you don't mind my asking," he continued, "why didn't you stay with your mother and Phil?"

"Well, Phil travels a lot, and my mom stayed home with me and I knew it kind of made her unhappy, so I just decided to live with my dad."

"Wow," he said, and Bella looked at him confused. "That's a really great thing you did. I know my opinion probably won't matter, but I think that's really amazing how selfless you were."

"T-thank you," Bella said, half smiling like an idiot and flushing with embarrassment. Any hate she felt toward him was slowly going away in that moment.

"We should probably get going. The group is leaving."

She nodded in agreement.

They were making their way back to the group when Bella almost slipped backward, but Edward caught her by her waist.

Bella didn't realize how close they were until she turned to him, face inches away from his almost within kissing distance. She quickly removed herself from his grasp.

"I'm sorry…." Edward started, but Bella cut him off.

"N-no, it's fine, I'm so clumsy." She looked embarrassed, fumbling with the hem of her jacket.

It surprised Bella having Edward that close to her made her feel some affection toward him. She couldn't deny the physical attraction she had for him, but it was his eyes that caught her attention. She knew there was something different about him. The last time she saw him she remembered his eyes were pitch black, and now they were back to the brown color. Bella was mesmerized.

"Do you have contacts?" Bella blurted out.

He hesitated before answering. "No." Edward looked bothered by her question, so she left the topic alone.

Bella didn't understand how he could have had pitch black eyes, and then brown ones unless he was lying for some reason. It kind of freaked her out, so she truly hoped there was a logical explanation and she wasn't losing her mind.

"We should go," Edward said, going back to the group. Bella followed behind him, and both remained quiet for the rest of the tour.

* * *

Once the last tour was over, all three groups met back up at the main entrance, and once Mr. Banner was done with his roll call, they all made their way back to the buses. On the bus, both Jessica and Angela demanded all the details about what Edward and Bella talked about. Bella kept it short since she didn't want to brag.

She took a glance at Edward sitting at the back of the bus. He was still by himself, staring out the window. Edward was strange, and this was coming from Bella who barely had any friends back at her old school or even hung out with people, but there was something about Edward that intrigued her.

Bella decided she was going to ask Edward to go to June's birthday party with her. She had never asked a boy out, especially someone like Edward, and it made the butterflies in her stomach go full force.

It was the end of the school day when the buses returned. Bella waited outside the bus for Edward, feeling like she was ready to vomit. When Bella saw Edward get off the bus and make his way to his car, she followed behind him fighting to keep her legs from shaking.

Jessica called out to her, but Bella raised her right index finger and said, "One minute."

"Edward," Bella called. He turned to her, looking surprised. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Edward asked.

"Well, I was wondering if um…if m-maybe y-y-you…" Bella stumbled over her words feeling completely idiotic. She tried to speak again but no words came out. She hid her face in her hands, face flushing with embarrassment.

Edward crossed his arms and just looked at her, creasing his eyebrows in concentration, which made Bella feel even more nervous. She took a deep breath and decided to just get this over with to save herself anymore humiliation.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to a party with me?" She said it so fast she wondered if Edward had even heard her.

He looked at her for a second, and then flashed a crooked smile so beautiful it put Bella in a daze. She couldn't believe someone so gorgeous like Edward actually existed.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Edward asked.

Bella shook her head yes. "If you don't want to…"

"No, no, it's not that it's just no girl here has ever asked me out before so it's kind of surprising."

"Well, do you want to go with me?"

Before Edward could answer, they both saw his family standing by his car, staring at him and Bella with brooding eyes which made Edward tense up and look worried.

"I actually don't think that would be a good idea."

"Oh." Bella's voice was low and sad.

"I'm sorry, Bella. It has nothing to do with you. I swear."

"It's okay, Edward, I understand. I should get going."

"Bella."

"I'll see you later, okay?"

Edward called her name again but she just continued to walk to her truck, feeling dejected. How could she ever face to him again after this? She felt so stupid thinking Edward would ever go out on a date with her. She just wanted to get out of there and forget the whole thing ever happened.

When Bella reached her truck, she heard a loud scream. She turned to see Edward across the parking lot, eyes widening in terror as he screamed her name. Several other students held the same terrified expression.

What caught Bella's eye was a dark blue van sliding across the icy concrete right in her direction. There was no way Bella could move out of the way in time, but before she knew it, she felt something grab her waist and pull her down, making her hit her head on the door of her truck.

Someone cursed, and Bella recognized the voice belonged to Edward Cullen. He was kneeling in front of her protectively, and he threw out his left arm, slamming it into the side of the vans door making it come to a halt with the sound of a metal thud and shattering glass.

Bella stared at Edward in complete shock. He was completely unharmed without even a single hint of damage to his body.

It was quiet for a second, and then the entire parking lot erupted into chaos. Throughout all the screaming, Bella could only hear Edward more clearly in her ear.

"Bella, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Edward asked, his voice frantic.

There was a throbbing pain in the back of Bella's head and she winced in pain as Edward helped her up to her feet.

"My head is pounding," she replied, holding the back of her head. "How did you get to me so fast?"

Edward looked worried and his voiced turned serious. "I was right next to you, Bella."

"No, you were by your car across the parking lot."

Just then, a crowd of people found them. Mr. Banner yelled for one of the bus drivers to help him get Tyler Crowley from out of the van. Bella heard the other staff members arrive, but her attention stayed on Edward. He wasn't going to get out of this one without giving her an explanation.

"This is not the time for this." His voice was annoyed now.

"Edward, I saw what you did."

"Bella, I promise you I will explain everything later, but right now I can't."

Bella looked at him for a second before answering. "Fine, but we will finish this."

Edward nodded in understanding.

Jessica and Angela made their way through the crowd and ran toward Bella with tears running down their faces. Jessica was asking Bella if she was alright and what had happened while Angela called the paramedics, but Bella was just as confused because it all happened so quickly.

The EMTs came minutes later with the stretcher's and got Tyler first, then Bella. Edward refused his, and decided to ride in the front where he told them Bella had hit her head and probably had a concussion. She felt so ridiculous when she had to put on a neck brace. Bella cursed under her breath when she saw her dad's police cruiser pull up. He ran toward Bella as soon as he saw her in the back of the ambulance.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked, panicked.

"Dad, calm down. I'm okay." she replied.

Charlie turned to the EMT to get their opinion. Bella tuned them out and turned to see Edward's family staring with disapproving, angry looks. None of them bothered to check to see if he was okay, or even look the least bit concerned for his safety. Bella then turned to see a deep dent on the right side of the van, and dent in the rear bumper of her truck where the van had slammed into it.

The image of Edward stopping the van played over and over in Bella's mind and she still couldn't make sense of any of it. There was something not right about Edward, and Bella was going to get some answers one way or another.

* * *

At the hospital, they placed Bella in a long room with a line of beds. As the nurse was putting a pressure cuff on Bella's arm, another nurse brought a patient in. It was Tyler, who was in Bella's government class, and he looked ten times worse than she did with his bandages wrapped around his head and his left hand. He winced in pain as the nurse helped him onto his bed. It wasn't until Bella's nurse left that she decided to take her neck brace off, and Tyler immediately started apologizing.

"Bella, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm okay, Tyler. Are you okay? You look terrible."

"Don't worry about me! I could've killed you! I hit the ice wrong and lost control of the car." The nurse started undoing the bandages from his head and hand exposing his cuts.

"It wasn't your fault. Don't worry about it," Bella assured him, but his expression showed he was still upset with himself.

As the nurse was dabbing his cuts, he spoke up again. "How did you get out of the way so fast?"

"Edward moved me out of the way," Bella answered.

"Edward Cullen? I didn't see him anywhere. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's okay. I don't know where he is though."

So she wasn't the only one who noticed. Bella knew she hadn't imagined what she saw.

After a few minutes, Bella was taken to get a CT scan of her head and then returned to her room. She was glad she didn't get a concussion and asked if she could leave, but the nurse said she had to talk to the doctor first. She sighed and decided to watch some television.

Tyler continued to apologize before Bella finally convinced him it wasn't his fault, and then their attention turned to people entering their room.

It was Charlie, an African American woman who Bella assumed was Tyler's mother, and the doctor. Seeing the doctor made Bella's mouth fall slightly open. He was absolutely beautiful and young looking like he belonged in Hollywood. The doctor had dark brown skin, medium length black wavy hair, and the same brown eyes like Edward. This had to be Edward's father.

"Hello, Miss Swan. I'm Doctor Cullen," he said in a softly spoken British accent. He walked over to the light board behind him and turned it on. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Bella replied.

Dr. Cullen walked back to Bella and pulled out his penlight, shining the light in both Bella's eyes.

"Now you may experience some post-traumatic stress, but according to your x-rays, you have no signs of any head trauma, so I'd say you will be just fine."

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Is she good to go home?"

"Yes, she's free to go. Come back to me if you start to feel dizzy, or start to have trouble with your eyesight."

Bella nodded her head in understanding, but before Dr. Cullen could walk off, she spoke up.

"It's a good thing Edward was there to pull me out of the way or it would have been a whole lot worse."

"You're boy?" Charlie asked Dr. Cullen, but the doctor ignored him, suddenly busy signing the papers on his clipboard. Bella was suspicious with how tense Dr. Cullen looked, but he just played it off.

"Yeah, he got to me so fast-he was nowhere near me."

"Well, it seems like you were very lucky then." Dr. Cullen smiled before walking over to Tyler and his mom. He was definitely in on what happened with Edward.

When Bella and Charlie walked into the hallway, they could see Edward and Rosalie around the corner. They were having an argument but their voices were low.

"Hey, Dad, I'm going to go talk to Edward really quick," Bella said.

"Alright, I'm just going to fill out some paper work," Charlie replied before walking off. Bella only walked toward them midway before coming to a stop and hearing part of their argument.

"I mean what the fuck were you thinking, Edward?" Rosalie said in a low angry voice.

"I couldn't just let her die." Edward's voice was calmer.

"You fucking might as well have, because this isn't just about you!"

Bella was completely taken back and hurt by Rosalie words. How could she say she was fine with Bella dying? Bella could never be that cruel to anyone, especially to someone she didn't know, and who never did anything to her.

"Edward," Bella said getting both of their attention. "Can I talk to you?"

Edward stood there more a minute like he was contemplating on whether or not he was going to speak to her, then turned backed to Rosalie and whispered something in her ear. Rosalie just rolled her eyes before storming off. Edward made his way toward Bella like he had an attitude and she prepared herself for whatever lie he was about to feed her.

"What?" he said annoyed.

"You need to start talking," Bella demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

He tried to play dumb, but Bella wasn't having it.

"Don't give me that. How did you get over to me so fast?"

"I told you I was standing right next to you, Bella."

"No, you were across the parking lot by your car."

He was looking worried, but he still tried to keep a calm demeanor. "Bella, I think you hit your head a little too hard."

Bella was pissed now. Edward was trying to gaslight her and she didn't like that.

"There is nothing wrong with my head."

"What the fuck do you want from me?" His voice was angry, and Bella was getting intimidated, but she wasn't backing down.

"I want to know why the hell you're lying to me."

Edward crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Okay, please tell me what you think happened?" he snapped.

Bella snapped right back letting her words come out in a rush. "I know that you weren't anywhere near me, and Tyler didn't see you either! I know that I was about to get crushed but you stopped the van and pushed it away with your hand like it was a damn toy, and there wasn't a single fucking scratch on you!" She stopped to catch her breath. She was so angry she wanted to punch Edward straight in his mouth.

Edward just stared at her like he was questioning her sanity, but Bella could see through his little act.

"You actually think that I physically stopped an incoming van from crushing us?"

"I don't think. I know."

Edward scoffed. "You're absolutely insane, you know that? No one is going to believe you."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone. I just wanted to know the truth if I'm going to be lying to everyone."

"Can't you just say thank you, and get the fuck over it?" he said angrily.

"How about you take that thank you, and shove it up your ass." She shot back.

He laughed without humor. "You're never going to let this go, are you?"

"Hell no," Bella replied quickly.

"Well, then I hope you really enjoy disappointment."

He turned his back and stormed off.

Bella was so furious she was shaking. It took her a minute to get herself together before she made her way to the waiting room. She couldn't believe she actually thought that Edward may be a good person and wanted to go out with him. He was a dick, and she would never talk to him ever again.

The waiting room was filled with some kids from school. After Bella had explained to Mike, Jessica, Angela, and Eric that she was fine and so was Tyler, apart from some minor injuries, she walked over to Charlie who was waiting by the exit.

"I'm ready to go, Dad." she said putting on her jacket.

"Um…Bells, I called your mother."

She look at him in disbelief.

"Dad, you didn't!"

"I know, I'm sorry, but your mother would have killed me if I didn't tell her."

Bella groaned. "Dad!"

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, god, she's probably having a heart attack right now." Bella pulled out her phone and began dialing Renee while making her way out the hospital with Charlie following behind her.

The car ride home with Charlie was completely silent. He tried to say sorry a couple of more times when they got home, but she was just not in the mood and went to her room. Bella was already pissed at Edward, and now she had to convince her mother that nothing like this would happen again.

Bella talked to Jessica and Angela on three-way on a few minutes, before deciding to go bed early. That night was the very first time she dreamed of Edward.


	3. Animal

In Bella's dream, she was in the middle of the road. Halfway down the other end, she saw Edward standing there in silence. She tried to run toward him, but she was moving in slow motion and he walked away from her. Just then, Bella turned and looked into the headlights of an oncoming car.

She woke up with a gasp, and wiped the sweat off her forehead with the corner of her cover. It was past midnight, and she knew she wasn't going to fall back asleep for a while, so she watched some television before she fell asleep again.

Bella didn't go to school the next day knowing Charlie wouldn't allow her to go anyway. She talked to Renee for a bit, ensuring her again that she didn't need to come to Forks. Jessica and Angela came over after school and told her everyone was talking about the accident. It was pointless to hope people would have something new to talk about, but she still remained optimistic.

On the following Monday, everything was uneasy and a bit embarrassing. Unfortunately, Bella became the center of attention, which made her want to hide under a rock. Half the student body pestered her about the accident, while everyone avoided Edward like a plague even though she told them he was the one who saved her.

Bella still hasn't spoken to him since their fight outside the ER. Trying to get along with him was like dealing with a child. She wasn't going to torture herself with trying to be his friend or anything else for that matter.

In biology class, Bella asked Mr. Banner to switch lab partners, but to her disappointed he denied her request. Looks like she was stuck working with an asshole.

When Edward sat next to her, he sat as far from her as the table would allow. He ignored her for the entire class and Bella happily did the same with him. She had decided he regretted saving her life. It was the only explanation.

On Wednesday, the snow was completely gone which Bella was happy for. She was surprised to see how quiet Mike was. He looked nervous, biting his nails and his left leg jumping up and down like he had an itch he couldn't scratch. He finally got up from his seat and approached Bella.

"Hey, Bella, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, what's up?"

As usual, Bella could sense Edward presence next to her, but she paid him no attention.

"Well, you know how the spring dance is coming up?" Mike took a glance at Edward, but he was staring ahead. Was Mike trying to make him jealous? "I-I was wondering if m-maybe if you would want t-to go…with me?"

Bella was completely taken back. Mike had had always been really nice, but she would have never thought he would be interested in her.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Edward tilt his head a little in her direction. A part of her wanted to be petty and rub it in his face, but she dropped that plain since one, he didn't like her. Two, she wasn't going to use Mike for some childish game. And three, Jessica liked Mike, and Bella wasn't going to hurt one of her friends like that.

Sucking in a breath she says, "Mike, thank you for asking, but I can't go with you."

"Why not?"

"I'm…um…" She wanted to spare possibly hurting his feelings, so she came up with the first thing that came to mind. "I'm…actually going to Seattle that day."

"Can't you go some other weekend?"

"Sorry, I can't."

His face dropped with disappointment.

"You should ask Jessica," Bella said.

Mike looked confused "Jessica?"

"Yeah, she would really love to go with you."

"Okay, I'll ask Jess," he smiled, and returned to his seat. Bella really did feel bad about lying to Mike, but the more she thought about it the more she realized she really did need to get out of town, and going to Seattle was probably a good idea.

After the bell rang ending class, Bella went to locker to put her books away when Edward called, "Bella?"

Bella sighed heavily. Angela and Mike walked past giving her a questioning look and Bella waved her hand to tell them everything was fine. They nodded and went to their next class, and Bella turned to Edward.

"What? Are you done pretending I don't exist?" she asked sounding irritated.

"I never pretended you didn't exist." He sounded surprised.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay," she said, shutting her locker a little harder than intended, and walked away with Edward following behind her.

"I wanted to apologize," he said sincerely, "I know I've been a complete jerk, but it really is better this way." His expression was serious.

"What do you mean?"

"It's better that we're not friends."

She laughed without humor. It was pretty clear with them not talking to each other that they weren't friends, so why was he wasting her time like this?

"I honestly don't understand you, Edward," she said as they reached the outside of the building. "You don't want to be my friend, but here you are talking to me. Why didn't you figure this out earlier to save yourself all this regret?"

"Regret for what?" he asked confused.

"Regret for saving my life."

Edward gently grabbed her left wrist making her come to a stop. He looked completely stunned.

When he spoke up again he sounded upset. "You honestly think I regret saving you?"

"What else am I supposed to think, Edward?" she said removing her wrist from his hand. "You've been treating me like shit since the day I got here."

They stared at each other for moment, and then Edward spoke up first. "Why do you think the worst of me?"

"You've given me no reason to think better of you." Bella said.

"You are being completely asinine, Bella, you know that?" His tone was calmer now. "You have this all wrong."

"Then explain it to me."

Bella stood there waiting for him to talk, but he remained silent. She grabbed the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"You know what, Edward? You're right. We're not friends, so why don't you save us both the trouble and leave me alone." She turned away from him and walked away.

Gym was awful as usual. The class was playing basketball and Bella managed to fall numerous times and almost hit someone in the face. Coach Clapp made her sit out the rest of the game before she hurt herself or someone else and she sat on the bench embarrassed.

After the last bell, she quickly changed out of her gym clothes to her regular ones, and proceeded to the parking lot. She entered her truck and just as she was about to start the engine, Eric Yorkie was jogging toward her.

Bella rolled down her window as he approached her truck.

"Hey, Bella," Eric says catching his breath.

"Hey, Eric. What's going on?"

"Not much. I was wondering… do you want to go to the spring dance with me?"

"Eric, I uh…" Eric caught her off guard. "I can't go with you, Eric. I'm going to Seattle that day."

He frowned. "You can't go some other day?"

"I can't, sorry."

His face was filled with disappointment.

"Look, Eric…" Bella said softly, "I'm really sorry, but I don't feel that way about you, and I would like it if we could just be friends."

He smiled and shook his head yes. "Yeah, of course we can. Besides, prom is in May. So maybe we can go as friends."

"I'll think about it."

He patted the side of her truck as he left.

Bella smiled and waved goodbye. She started her engine and headed home.

* * *

Around eight o'clock later that night, Bella started to get ready for June's birthday party. After she took her shower, Jessica called to tell her she and Angela were going to pick her up around eight-thirty which Bella agreed too. Putting her hair into a ponytail she went into her closet trying to decide on an outfit to wear.

She finally decided on wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt with a long sleeve grey shirt over it, dark blue jeans, and some black and white converse shoes. A car was honking outside and she looked out her window to see Jessica and Angela in a black Ford Tempo.

"Bella, your friends are outside!" Charlie called from downstairs.

"I'm coming!" Bella replied. She slipped on her jacket and placed the present she brought for June inside her purse and headed downstairs. She had brought June a new album from the band Coldplay which was Junes favorite band.

Charlie was in the living room watching a football game while eating some lasagna Bella cooked earlier.

"Dad, I'm heading out," Bella said.

"Okay. Be home by twelve alright?"

"Alright. Oh, and Dad? Can I go to Seattle on the first Saturday of next mouth?"

"Why?" he asked surprised.

"I wanted to get some books. The library here is pretty limited. Plus, I need some new clothes."

"Do you think your truck will even make it?"

"I'll stop for gas if I need too."

"And uh…are you going by yourself?" He sounded suspicious. Bella hoped he didn't think she had some secret boyfriend, and she was lying about it.

"Yeah, would you feel more comfortable with me going with someone?"

"I guess I'm okay with it. Do you want me to come with you?"

She mentally cringed at the thought. "Uh…no that's okay, Dad."

"Alright, have fun tonight, and remember be home by twelve."

"Okay, I will," she said heading out the front door.

The ride to June's house didn't take very long. Forks may not be filled with mansions around every corner, but June's house was definitely one of the nicer looking houses in town. From the car, Bella could see the silhouette of the guests inside the house through the window, and hear the music. The three girls exited the car and walked toward the front door ringing the doorbell.

When June opened the door her face immediately lit up with happiness.

"Happy Birthday!" Bella, Jessica, and Angela said at the same time.

"Thank you! Come on in!" June replied, taking each of their present as they entered the house.

Bella felt ridiculous and out of place seeing all the other guests dressed so nicely, and she was just looked plain. But that wasn't the only thing she was worried about.

Around the house she could see people smoking, filling the air with the smell of marijuana. There was people drinking alcohol, solo cups scattered across the floor, and a few folks making out.

"Are your parents here?" Bella asks June.

June shook her head no. "Nah, both of them are out of town. They gave me the whole house to myself."

"Oh," she said nervously. Bella had never been to a party like this. Plus, her dad was a cop, and if he found out she was here he would probably freak out.

"Hey, Bella, don't worry everything is going to be fine, okay?" Angela assured her.

Bella nodded her head.

"There's Mike!" Jessica waved at him, and he waved back. "I'm going to go talk to him. I'll see you guys later." She turned and walked in Mike's direction. June headed off upstairs.

"Hey, I'm going to walk around a bit," Bella told Angela.

"Are you sure you're going to be fine by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You have fun."

Angela smiled and gave her a hug, and went off to where Jessica was.

For half the night, Bella wondered around the house occasionally checking up on Jessica and Angela. Due to peer pressure June got her to drink some alcohol which she spit back into her cup because of the awful taste. Three guys also tried flirting with her. One being Tyler Crowley and it got her some dirty looks from Lauren Mallory who was another girl from Bella's school, and was stand offish toward her for some reason.

By eleven-twenty, everyone started to leave to head home. Thankfully no one had gotten seriously drunk to the point where they couldn't drive themselves home. Bella, Jessica, and Angela all hugged June and again wished her a happy birthday before they went back to the car.

During the drive, Jessica excitedly shared how Mike asked her to go with him to the spring dance and prom. Both Bella and Angela cheered happily for their friend. Bella always thought Mike and Jessica would make a nice couple.

"Do you have a date for the dance and prom, Bella?" Jessica asked suddenly.

"No, not really," Bella replied. It surprised her how disappointed she sounded even though she didn't even like dances.

"Did anyone ask you yet?" Angela jumped in.

"It's not that. It's just dances aren't really my thing."

"Or, maybe you'll only go with a certain someone." Jessica said.

Bella stared at her. Was she suggesting she would only go with Edward?

Jessica continued. "A certain, tall, dark an-"

Bella cut her off before she could finish. "If you're talking about Edward you're so wrong."

"Actually, I was talking about Eric. Good to know you still think about Edward" Jessica and Angela begin to laugh.

Bella felt so embarrassed letting herself get tricked like that, but she couldn't help but laugh as well. Jessica was right though. She did still think about Edward. Even at June's party when she was walking around looking like a lost puppy she thought about him. No matter how much he pissed her off there was still a part of her that likes him, and she hated that.

"Hey, I need to go get some gas real quick," Jessica said pulling up near a Shell gas station to the nearest gas pump. A blue Honda Civic was on the other side of the pump.

"Bella?" Angela called as Jessica exited the car.

"Yeah?" Bella replied.

"Can I talk to you about something?" she sounded serious.

"What is it?"

"Well…I've been having these weird feelings lately."

Bella looked at her confused. "What kind of feelings?"

"It's really strange. Every time I see the letter B and the number ten I get this…terrible feeling."

"Have you told Jessica about this?"

"No, you're the first person I told. I didn't want anyone thinking I was being weird or something."

"Angela…" Bella said resting a hand on Angela's shoulder, "you're not weird. It's probably just bad nerves or something. I'm sure you'll be okay."

Angela smiled and gave thanked Bella. Jessica exited the gas station a minute later talking with an older man. Getting closer they saw that Jessica was talking with their biology teacher, Mr. Banner. Jessica proceeded to take the nozzle from the gas pump and fill up her gas tank.

"Hello girls," Mr. Banner said.

"Hi, Mr. Banner," Angela replied with Bella waving.

"I heard you girls are just coming from a study group."

"Yeah. Something like that," Bella said, with Jessica and Angela holding in their desire to laugh.

"That's good. I won't be in tomorrow so you girls are getting a substitute, but I hope you'll still be ready for tomorrow's assignment."

"Um…yeah, we'll be totally ready," Jessica lied.

"Good. Anyway I should be going. You girls drive safe now alright?"

Jessica took the nozzle from her gas tank and placed it back in the gas pump. "We will."

They all told him good night which he returned and he got into his car and drove off. Jessica entered the car and put on her seat belt.

"What was he doing here?" Angela asked Jessica.

"He was just buying some cigarettes," Jessica replied, starting the engine of the car and driving out of the gas station lot.

It was a little past twelve when Jessica dropped Bella off at home. When she came into the house and walked into the living room she saw Charlie just waking up from his sleep.

"Hey, Dad, I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay, sweetie," Charlie said yawing and stretching. "Did you have a good time tonight?"

"Yeah, it was really fun."

"That's good."

"Well, I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Bella."

* * *

When Bella woke the next morning, she could hear Charlie downstairs talking on the phone with someone. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she went downstairs to see what was going on, but he was already hanging up.

"Hey, sweetie," Charlie said putting on his jacket.

"Hey. What was that about?"

"I have to head down to Mason County. Someone got killed from an animal attack."

"An animal?" Bella asked confused.

"Yeah, I figured I might give them a hand."

"Be careful, Dad."

"I always am." Charlie kissed her forehead and headed out the door.

After Charlie left, Bella went upstairs to get ready for school. After taking a shower, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed, Bella went outside to her truck and drove to school. When she Pulled up into the parking lot, she saw a crowd of students heading toward the gymnasium and police creating barricades to keep out the news reporters and camera men from entering the gym.

Parking her truck, she followed the crowd toward the gym. Inside the gym everyone was taking seats with the other teachers and the principal, Mr. Greene, who was up on the gym's stage. Bella couldn't find Jessica and Angela, so she took the nearest seat in the third middle row of seated students

Once everyone was seated, Principal Greene walked up to the stage podium and began to speak into the mic. "Dear students, and faculty," Principal Greene began, "it saddens me to say this, but late last night one of our faculty members, Mr. Banner, was found dead last night."

The room suddenly filled with gaps and 'oh my gods' and a few people were beginning to cry. Bella heart felt like it stopped. Her mind went blank and sat there in complete shock. She, Jessica, and Angela saw him just last night. How could he be dead?

Mr. Banner was one of nicest teachers in the school, and everyone loved him. This could not be happening. On the other side of the room, Bella could Edward looking like he had seen ghost. He looked almost scared.

Principal Greene continued to speak. "The reasons behind his death are currently under investigation by the police. For the remainder of the day, Mr. Banner's class will be canceled. We ask that no one talk to any reporters, and if the police ask for your cooperation, I urge you, as students of this school, to provide only the facts."

After the school was dismissed from the gymnasium, Bella met up Jessica and Angela.

Jessica spoke up first. "I can't believe this is happening. We literally just saw him last night."

Angela sniffled and wiped her tears from her eyes. Bella wrapped her arms around her comforting her.

"To think that could have been us…"

"Jess, don't say that!" Angela said cutting her off.

"It could have!"

Bella remained quiet. She honestly didn't know what to say. Jessica was right. It could have been them. The thought of Charlie and Renee finding out she had died made her heart ache.

"How did he even die?" Jessica asked.

"My dad said something about an animal attack," Bella said. Angela removed herself from Bella's arm and started to walk away.

"Angela, where are you going?" Bella called after her.

"I need to be alone." she continued to walk not looking back. Bella tried to go after her, but Jessica stopped her and told her to give Angela space. Bella hoped that she would be okay.

There was a sense of sadness going around for the remainder of the school day. Walking past Mr. Banner empty class room filled Bella up with grief. She knows there nothing she couldn't have done, but she still wished there was something she could have done to prevent this.

On her way to her third period class, Bella heard her name over the intercom asking her to report to the principal's office. Everyone in school was being question by the police and she dreaded when it was her turn. She wished her dad was there to put her at ease.

In the Principal's office, she was questioned by two officers who made her feel nervous, so she ended up lying about seeing Mr. Banner last night. Bella really did want to help them, but she truly didn't know anything about what could have led to his dead. The conversation with Mr. Banner was short, and he didn't say what he was doing or where he was going, so honestly she couldn't help as much as she wanted too.

At the end of the school day, Bella immediately went to her truck careful to avoid any reporters. She told Jessica and Angela she would call them when she got home. Halfway to her truck, she pulled out her keys from her pocket and accidentally dropped them in a puddle of water at her feet.

She cursed under her breath and as she bent down to pick them up a hand reached out and grabbed them before she did. She jerked up to see Edward Cullen standing in front of her.

"Give me my keys, Edward," she demanded, holding out her hand. He did what he was told and dropped the keys in her hand. "And please stop doing that."

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Appearing out of nowhere," she said annoyed, "It's getting really weird."

"It's really not my fault you're unobservant, Bella."

"I really don't have time for your smart ass remarks today," she said angrily, brushing past him.

"Wait," Edward said, walking in front of her. "I'm sorry. I'm being a jerk again."

"Do you have some type of mental problem?" she snapped. "Honestly, there is something truly wrong with you dude. First you treat me like shit, then you're nice and save my life, then you're back to treating me like shit again and tell me you don't want to be my friend."

"Bella don't be so ridiculous," he scoffed, "my intention is not to upset you. Honestly. I really just wanted to ask you something."

She sighed and placed a hand on her hip "Fine. What do you want?"

"I heard you telling Mike you were going to Seattle on the day of the spring dance."

"Ease drop much?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was wondering if you wanted a ride."

She stared at him. "Go to Seattle with you? Why?" she asked mystified.

"I was planning to go to Seattle myself, and from the looks of it your truck doesn't look like it would make it. And after what happened to Mr. Banner, it's not safe to be driving to another city all by yourself."

"My truck will do just fine, thank you very much. And I don't need you to protect me." She walked around him, but he walked in front of her again

"Bella, come on." He looked at her pleadingly.

"I thought you said you didn't want to be friends."

"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Oh, well now I feel so much better." She was being sarcastic.

"It would be more _prudent_ for you not to be my friend," he explained stepping a little closer to her. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."

His voice was serious, but his eyes were soft. She hated when he did that thing where it was almost impossible to say no to him. It was like he had you under some of type spell. On the other hand, it was a great chance to figure out his secret.

Her curiosity got the better of her. "Fine, Edward. I'll go with you."

"Thank you. You really should stay away from me" he warned. "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned and walked away.

* * *

Later that night, Bella was cooking spaghetti and meatballs. Charlie was going to be late for dinner, so she put some in a plastic container for him and put it in the fridge. Her phone started to ring and she rushed into the living room to get it. It was Angela calling.

"Hey, Angela what's up?"

"Bella, turn on the news right now!" Angela was panicking.

Bella heart started to beat fast and she instantly became freighted "Angela, what's wrong?"

"Oh my god, Bella I'm freaking the fuck out." She was crying now.

"Angela, honey, you have to calm down." Bella said turning the TV to the news.

On the television, she saw police forensic around the scene of the crime taking photos of Mr. Banner's car which the front hood of the car dented heavily, the front window was shattered, and the driver seat door ripped open. She could see blood on the driver's seat leaving a trail of blood all the way into the forest. The camera panned a shot of the back of the car and Bella threw her hand over her mouth in shock. The license plate read B-10.


	4. Hero or The Bad Guy

It has been a mouth since Mr. Banner's death. The school had already replaced him with a new biology teacher, Mr. Hyde. Being back into Mr. Banner's classroom had given Bella an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and that feeling worsened whenever she saw Angela was not in school. The night Angela had called her, she spent half an hour trying to calm her down, and since then she has been acting differently.

Of course, Bella and Jessica tried to speak to her whenever she did come to school, but she would just avoid talking about it and told them she was fine and they both decided they didn't want to pressure her to talk about something she didn't want too, so they decided to give Angela some space and waited until she was ready to talk about what happened.

On the first Wednesday of March, Angela decided to come to school and as usual she was quiet and kept to herself. Jessica was still confused as to why she was acting strange and Bella felt bad for not telling her the truth, but on the other hand it wasn't Bella's place to tell Jessica something even Angela was not comfortable talking about.

At Lunch time, Bella sat at her usual table which was considered the cool kids table which was weird for her since she was the farthest thing from being cool. Across the table from her, she saw Jessica giggling from all kisses Mike was giving her on her cheek. They both looked so happy together and Bella was happy that they were finally dating. Bella was also happy neither Mike, nor Eric held any resentment toward her for turning them both down for the spring dance and prom.

Everyone seemed to have a date to these dances, and it would be a lie if Bella said she didn't feel a little bit jealous. Turning her attention to the Cullen table, she saw only four of them and Edward sitting at another table by himself. He raised one hand and motioned with his index finger for her to join him.

She contemplated for a second before going over to him.

"Come sit with me today." he said, smiling.

Bella sat down, watching him with caution. Since Edward had asked to drive her to Seattle, he was at least starting to be tolerable, and they started to occasionally speak.

"Well, this is new," Bella said.

He shrugged. "I decided a long time ago that since I'm going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

She stared at him, not understanding what he meant. He smiled like he knew he was confusing her.

"Your friends are pissed at me for stealing you."

"They'll be alright." She could practically feel them staring at her.

"I may keep you to myself, though," he teased, and winked.

She gulped.

"Are you worried?"

"No. I'm just surprised I mean…what brought all this on?"

"I already told you. I'm tired of staying away from you, so I'm giving up." He was smiling, but his eyes were serious.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked confused.

"I mean, I'm going to start doing what I want now, and whatever happens, happens."

She looked at him confused again, and he smiled that beautiful crooked smile.

"Okay, so does that mean we're friends now?"

"We can try. I guess," he said, but then his voice turned serious, "but I'm warning you, I'm not a very good friend for you."

"I think I can decide for myself who's a good friend for me." she replied.

He huffed out a laugh. "You're the most persistent person I know. If you were smart, you would stay away from me."

"Like I said, I decide who I'm friends with. And I really don't appreciate you questioning my intellect," she retorted.

"I apologize," he said sincerely.

"So, as long as I'm not being smart, we can be friends?"

He nodded his head. "That's about right."

Bella looked down at her intertwined fingers, unsure of what to do next. Suddenly, she looked back up to Edward, and just got right to the point.

"What exactly are you, Edward?"

His jaw tightened, but he still put effort to not show any discomfort.

"Why don't you tell me what you think I am."

She sighed, irritated. She had been debating last month between him being an alien, or some type of cyborg, but she was too embarrassed to actually say it.

"It's too embarrassing," she said shyly.

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"Trust me, it is."

There was an awkward silence between them until Edward spoke up.

"So…" he said, changing the subject, "are we still on for Seattle this Saturday?"

"Yeah. We're still going. Still surprised you would want to take me though."

"Well, I told you I don't think you should be going to Seattle all by yourself especially with what happened with Mr. Banner, and…" He stopped suddenly, looking nervous and biting his bottom lip.

"What?" Bella asked.

He took in a breath and spoke. "I really just wanted to spend time with you. I like being around you."

Bella was speechless. She felt her cheeks get hot, and warmth in the pit of her stomach. She liked this side of Edward. The Edward that was kind and made the affections she held for him grow stronger. When he was honest with her in this way, it made her really happy.

A small smile crept onto her lips. "I feel the same way, Edward. When you're not being a jerk that is." She giggled which brought a smile to Edwards face, showing off his pearly white teeth.

She spoke again. "Can you do something for me?"

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked curiously.

"Promise me you will warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I can be prepared."

"I promise."

"Thank you."

"Can I ask for one favor in return?" he asked.

"Just one."

He picked up the apple from his tray, and tossed it back and forth between his hands.

"Tell me one of your theories about what you think I am."

"Except that one."

"You didn't specify what I could ask though."

"It's not like you haven't broken promises yourself," she reminded him.

"Please, Bella. I promise I won't laugh," he begged.

She sighed, and gave in. "Fine. I've considered you being an extraterrestrial."

"Nope. That's not it."

"What about an android? I'm I getting warmer?"

"Not even close."

"Damn it," she cursed.

"I also haven't been bitten by any radioactive spiders, or weak against kryptonite, or any other superhero stuff."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to find out one way or the other."

"I really wish you wouldn't try." His voice was serious again.

"Why?"

He placed the apple back on the tray. "Because, what if I'm not the hero? What if I'm the bad guy?"

His eyes showed a hint of fear in them. Suddenly everything he was saying made sense. Edward was saying he was dangerous. She stared at him, wondering why she wasn't afraid of him. If anything, he fascinated her whenever she was with him. She wanted to know everything about him.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You're not the bad guy."

"You're wrong," he whispered with sadness in his voice. Bella felt sympathy for the boy sitting across from her.

"Listen, Edward. I know I don't know you that well, but I can tell you're not this terrible person you claim to be. You jumped in front of a speeding van and saved me. I don't think a bad person would do that. I can see what you're trying to put off, but I can see it's just to keep people away from you. It's a mask, but you don't have to ever hide from me."

When she was finished, Edward stared at her completely perplexed. It wasn't until Bella looked down at the table she noticed her right hand on top of Edward's left. She quickly moved her hand away, cheeks flushed from embarrassment. The silence made them notice the cafeteria was half empty, and Bella stood up.

"I should get going." She tried to act natural, but her quavering voice failed her. He continued to stare at her, not saying anything which made the situation awkward.

The first bell sent her hurrying out the cafeteria door; with a last glance confirming that he hadn't stop staring at her.

* * *

Bella headed home after school, planning out the beach trip at La Push with some kids from school this Friday, and her trip to Seattle with Edward the day after. Charlie was working late again, so he told her there was no need to cook dinner since he would pick something up on the way home.

Since Mr. Banners murder, she worried about her dad's safety. She didn't know who or what had killed her teacher, but she didn't want her dad anywhere near it.

As she was pouring herself a class of juice, her phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Angela calling.

"Angela?" Bella answered.

 _"Bella, how are you doing?"_ Her voice calm, but it still held a hint of nervousness.

"I'm good. How are you doing? Is everything okay?"

 _"Yeah, everything is fine. Can you…come over to my house?"_

This took Bella off guard. She hadn't been over Angela's house in a while, and she was happy that maybe Angela was finally ready to talk about what was going on with her.

"Yeah, I'll be over there as soon as I can. Is Jessica coming too?"

 _"Actually, I just wanted to talk to you if that's okay."_

"Oh, okay. I'll see you when I get there."

With that, Bella hung up the phone and immediately went to her truck. Angela didn't live far, so it didn't take long to reach her house. Bella pulled up to a single story house with brown bricks, and a white picket fence around it. She got out of her truck and walked up to the front door ringing the doorbell, and Angela's mother opened the door. Angela's mother had brown skin, brown eyes, short black hair, and a heavy figure.

"Bella, dear, it's so wonderful to see you again." Angela's mom greeted warmly, hugging her.

"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Weber. How are Mr. Weber and the twins?"

"That husband of my mine is busy as usual, and the twins are over a friend's house. Oh, and Angela is in her room by the way."

Bella gave her a small smile and headed toward Angela's room. Angela's father worked as a pastor which kept him busy with church most of the time, and she had two fourteen year old twin brothers, Isaac and Joshua, who would be starting high school next year . Both of Angela's parents are Mexican and were both born in the states.

Upon entering Angela's room, Bella saw her on the computer at her desk looking something up, and books where speared across her bed.

"Hey, Angela," Bella called.

It took a few seconds before Angela turned her attention to her.

"Hey, Bella, sorry about the mess I've been kind of busy." She got up from her seat and picked up the books across her bed.

Bella waved it off. "It's no worries. You wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah. I did," she confirmed nodding her head.

They both sat down on the bed once Angela was done cleaning it off.

Angela spoke up first. "First off, I want to say that I'm sorry. I know I been acting different since Mr. Banner died, but I've been going through some things." She sounded so guilty which made Bella put a comforting arm around her.

"Angela, it's okay. No one is mad at you, were all just worried about you that's all."

"I know, and I'm sorry for worrying everyone, but things have been different."

Bella removed her arm from around her. "Different like how?"

"You remember the night Mr. Banner died, and I told you about how I been having weird feelings, and then the night I called you."

Bella remembered, but she still didn't understand what any of those things meant.

"I've been doing some research…" Angela pointed to the books from her bed, "and I think…I think maybe I may be…psychic or something."

The room fell silent. Bella look at her completely shocked at what she was hearing.

"Whoa, wait a minute. You think you're psychic? How do you know for sure?" Bella asked confused.

"It's like…whenever I picture something in my head, that thing happens sometimes. Sometimes I even dream this stuff, plus I already told you got a bad feeling when I thought letter B and number ten, and it turned out to be Mr. Banner's license plate. I'm not crazy Bella!" Angela was getting upset.

"Angela, calm down I'm not saying you're crazy. This is just really a lot to take in."

"So you believe me?"

"Of course I do. You and Jessica are my best friends and I know neither one of you would lie about something like this."

"Thanks, Bella," Angela said hugging her.

"So, when are you going to tell your parents and Jessica about this?

"I'll tell her this Friday at the beach, and I don't know about telling my folks. I feel terrible for not telling them, but I'm scared they will all think I'm crazy or something. I mean it took me a while to tell you."

"No one's going to think you're crazy. I know they are all going to be understanding."

"I honestly hope so."

"Tell you what. How about we call up Jessica, and have a girl's day with just the three of us."

Angela smiled happily. "Yeah, I could really use that right now."

Before Bella could walk out the door, Angela called her back.

"You're going to Seattle with Edward right?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Bella replied.

"Listen, Bella, I'm new to this psychic thing and I'm not always correct, but just promise you will be careful around him. I get a bad feeling from him, too."

"Ange-"

Angela cut her off "Just promise me, Bella, please."

Bella could tell she was being serious, and she didn't want to have her friend worrying about her.

"I promise I will be careful."

Bella wondered what worried her more. Angela's warning about Edward, or the fact that she would not keep her promise.

* * *

It's was the last class of the school day the next day which was gym; Bella's least favorite class. Coach Clapp had made the guys play basketball while the girls played a five on five game of volleyball. Luckily she only had to play one round which her team won surprisingly since her athletic skills sucked.

She was in the middle of her thoughts thinking about the girls' only day she had with Jessica and Angela yesterday when suddenly someone yelled her name.

She turned to see a basketball flying fast toward her, and before she could even move, she was struck hard on the forehead. It felt like someone had punched her. Something like this would happen to her. This made her hatred for P.E grow even bigger.

There were people calling her name, but her head was hurting was badly to even pay attention, and she felt like she was on the verge of tears. The hit from the ball had left a small lump on her forehead. She felt someone help her up to her feet, but her balance was a little wobbly.

The coach ordered Mike to escort her to the nurse's office which he did without question. He wrapped Bella's left arm around his shoulder and helped her walk across campus.

"You're going to be fine, Bella," Mike assured her.

She tried to speak, but a groan came out.

"Bella?" a voice called from the distance.

Her day could not get any worse. Of all the people to find her, it had to be him.

"What happened? Is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded worried.

Mike sounded irritated with him. "She got hit in the head with a basketball."

"Bella, are you okay?" He was in front of her now.

She looked at Edward with an irritated expression "Edward, I got hit by a basketball, my head is pounding, and I have a lump on my forehead. So, no, I'm not okay," she groaned.

She removed her arm from around Mike and sat down on the edge of the sidewalk placing her face in her hands. Her massive headache made her feel like she wanted to throw up.

"I was just taking her to the nurse," Mike explained.

"Mike, how about you go back to class and I take Bella to the nurse."

"No," Mike protested. "If Bella is not comfortable with it, then I'm not leaving her."

Edward sighed irritably, and knelt down to Bella's level.

"Bella, can I please take you to the nurse?" Edward asked.

It was a couple of seconds before Bella lifted her head from her hands and turned to Mike.

"Mike, it's okay. You can go back to class."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, but thank you for helping me out."

Mike nodded his head and headed back to gym. Edward then gently scooped her up into his arms, as if she was as light as a pillow. He just supported her with his arms, and it surprised her how unbothered he was. She was shocked he decided to carry her, but she had to admit it felt nice being in Edwards arms. She closed her eyes and placed her head against his chest, taking in his wonderful scent.

Suddenly, it felt warm and she knew that they were inside.

"Oh my goodness," she heard an older woman gasp.

Bella opened her eyes. She was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung her into the room and placed her gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible.

"She got hit with a basketball in gym" he explained.

The nurse nodded. "Just lay down, dear. I'll go get you an ice pack and some water."

Bella obeyed, hand over her lump. The nurse left without noticing Edward was still there.

"You gave me quite a scare there," he admitted. He sounded like he was confessing some type of weakness.

Bella closed her eyes. "I hope Mike isn't mad at me."

"He fucking hates me. All your friends hate me to be honest," he said matter of fact.

"It's because you're a jerk to me sometimes," she said.

She heard a low laugh come from Edward.

"How did you even see me anyway, Edward?"

"I was ditching, but I decided to listen to a CD in my car for a few minutes." His normal response surprised her.

Just then the door opened and Bella opened her eyes to the nurse with an ice pack in her hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Here you go, sweetie." She laid the pack on Bella's forehead and handed her the water. "I can give you some aspirin to help with the headache."

"Okay, thank you." Bella said, after drinking a little of her water.

Bella was instructed by the nurse to lie down for remainder of the period since school was already about to over in a few minutes. She tried to get Edward to go back to class, but he used his charm to convince her to let him stay.

The boy from Bella's gym class who hit her in the forehead came through the door apologizing like he was giving a speech. As mad as Bella wanted to be at the boy, she knew it was an honest mistake and it wasn't on purpose, so she forgave him.

When the final bell rang, Bella got up from the mattress with the ice pack still placed on her lump which the nurse let her keep. The aspirin had helped a little, but she still had a minor headache. The lump was also going down a little. When Edward and Bella left the nurses office, they saw the other students leaving the building and Mike waiting in the front office.

"Are you feeling better?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm just glad it wasn't worse."

Mike nodded. "Hey, I meant to ask you, are you still going to the beach tomorrow?"

Bella took a glance at Edward who was leaning against the counter texting on his phone.

"Of course I'm still going."

"Good, we're meeting at my dad's store after school. Just the ones invited." Mike's body language made it clear that Edward was not welcome.

"I'll be there, Mike," Bella promised.

He nodded and walked out of the door. Edward then came up beside her.

"Well, isn't he just charming," Edward said trying to surpass a laugh.

Bella rolled her eyes and proceeded to the parking lot with Edward behind her. The cool breeze from outside felt good against her face, and it was probably the first time she enjoyed the weather in Forks.

"Are you going? To the beach tomorrow I mean?" She was hoping he would say yes, but it was probably unlikely.

"Which beach are you going to?" he asked.

"Down to La Push, to the first beach."

He chuckled and scratched the side of his head nervously. "Um, I don't really think I was invited. Mike made that pretty clear."

Bella rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well, I really don't care what Mike said, I'm inviting you."

They were near the parking lot now. Bella was walking toward her truck when Edward walked in front of her making her stop.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked confused.

"Let me drive you home," he insisted.

"Why? I already have a car, so it's not necessary for you to drive me."

He laughed, which confused her even more. "No, I meant let me drive you home in your truck."

"What about your car? How are you going to get home and whose going to drive your family home?"

"I was texting Alice when you were talking to Mike. She has a spare key to my car, so she's going to drive herself and the others home and come pick me up."

She thought about his offer for a second before agreeing which made him happy. She handed him her keys and entered the passenger side of the truck. She would be lying if she said half of her reason for agreeing to this was to be around him. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he pulled out a small case from his coat pocket with a CD inside and gestured toward the radio.

"Go ahead," Bella said. As soon as the music started, Bella instantly knew what it was.

"This is Clare de Lune isn't it?" Bella asked, surprised.

"Yes, it is. You know Debussy?" Edward asked just as surprised.

"Not that much. My mom played classical music around the house all the time, and this was one of my favorites."

"It's one of my favorites, too."

Suddenly, drops of rain fell against the window. Bella relaxed against her seat with her ice pack still on her forehead and listened to the music as Edward drove her home. The smooth melody made her think about her mother, and how much she missed her.

"What's your mom like if you don't mind my asking?"

She looked over to see him looking at her curiously.

"Well, she's prettier than me for one. She's kind of eccentric, but she's way braver and outgoing than I could ever be. If anything she's one of my best friends."

He stopped the car, and she realized they were in front of her house. The rain had gotten heavier which made it hard to see through the window.

"Why did your mom marry Phil?"

She was surprised he even remembered his name since she only mentioned Phil once.

"He makes her feel young and alive she would say. I swear they're like two teenagers stuck in a summer romance, but most importantly he makes her happy which is all I care about really."

"They sound like they really love each other."

Bella just shrugged her shoulders and whispered a yeah.

"Do you not approve?"

"Like I said, he makes her happy and that's all that matters."

Edward didn't press the issue any further not wanting to upset her.

She placed her ice pack in her lap. "Okay, my turn."

Edward's face was cautious. "What do you want to know?"

"The Cullens adopted you, so what happened to your real parents?"

"They died a long time ago," he said easily.

"I'm so sorry," Bella said sympathetically.

"It's okay. I don't really remember them that much. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."

"You love them." It wasn't a question.

"Very much, yes. I wouldn't choose anyone over them."

"You're very lucky."

He smiled. "I know I am."

After a few minutes, Edward's Vanquish pulled up behind them with Alice in the driver's seat.

"I guess you should be going." She didn't want him to leave, and from his expression he didn't want too either.

"Yeah. Have fun at the beach tomorrow."

"You're not going?"

"I can't. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early. We're going hiking in Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier, but I'll be here Saturday for Seattle.

She had remembered she heard the Cullens go camping frequently.

"Oh, well have a good time." She tried to sound enthusiastic, but he could tell she was disappointed.

"Will you do something for me this weekend?" he asked. He looked at her straight in the face and she felt like his eyes had her under a spell.

She nodded helplessly.

"Promise me you will keep yourself safe."

"I promise." She said it without a second thought. He smiled that crooked smile and suddenly he leaned forward and planted his soft lips on her cheek. He stepped into the rain and into his car with Alice. Bella stared after them as they drove away. She got out of the car quickly and entered her house locking the door behind her. It was only a few seconds before she let out a scream of happiness.


	5. The Story of The Evil Ones

**Hello, Everyone. So sorry for the long wait. I rewrote this chapter so many times to see how I could change it, but nothing seemed to work so I just kept the chapter the same as in the book with some minor change with the words in dialogue and scenes. Just to let you guys know the year is 2009 in this story which was my senior year of high school and I changed Jacob age to Bella's age cause it was really gross Bella was eighteen in love with a sixteen year old.**

 **I used sources from Quileutenation and** **native-languages**

 **I also want to properly portray the Quileute tribe in this story since that was one of the main criticism about the franchise which is why I removed the cold ones from their legends since they never existed in Quileute legend. So the cold ones story (evil ones as I called them) started as a folklore that started in Europe and spread. So if anything I wrote is inaccurate please let me know.**

 **That's about it. The next chapter will be Edward and Bella's trip to Seattle which never happened in the books so it will be an original chapter and I'm very excited. I have to think out the plot so please be patient with me and thank you again for reading.**

* * *

That night at dinner, Charlie seemed enthusiastic about Bella's trip to La Push tomorrow. He probably felt guilty for leaving her home alone on the weekends, but he'd spent too many years building his habits to break them now. Bella wondered if he would approve of her plan to drive to Seattle with Edward Cullen.

"Dad, do you know a place called Goat Rocks? I think it's south of Mount Rainier," Bella asked casually.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "Some kids were talking about camping there."

"It's not a very good place for camping." He said. "There are too many bears. Most people go there during the hunting season."

"Oh, okay," she murmured. She waited before she spoke up again. "Hey, dad, Edward Cullen offered to drive to Seattle with me and I said yes."

He looked up surprised. "He did? That was very nice of him."

"I just wanted to make sure that it's okay with you."

"I guess it's alright, but do you really have to go with him? Can't you go with Jessica or Angela?"

"Dad, come on. You said yourself you've never had trouble with Edward or his family, and besides he doesn't have any friends outside his family, so I just want to try to be his friend."

Charlie sighed. "Look, Bella, you can go with Edward, but I'm going to set some ground rules because while I may not want you going by yourself I don't want you going with some boy I don't know either."

"Okay, what are the rules?

"Number one, you must call me when you get there and when you're about to leave," he spoke sternly, and Bella nodded. "Number two, you will go to Seattle, get what you need, and come straight back. You are not allowed to go anywhere else and you will be back by seven. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Dad, I understand. I promise I won't let you down." Bella said.

"I know you won't, Bella. You can go to bed now and I will do the dishes."

Bella nodded and headed straight for bed.

It wasn't time for school yet, but an unusual brightness woke Bella up. She opened her eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through her window. She quickly went to the window to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. It was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn't seem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun. Clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. She lingered by the window as long as she could, staring at the sky in amazement.

At school, Bella was grateful no one was talking about the incident yesterday in gym. In trigonometry class, Jessica did have a lot of questions about Bella and Edward going to Seattle.

"Hey, B, are you still leaving with Edward tomorrow?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, we're still going to Seattle tomorrow," Bella replied.

"Is your dad okay with you going with him?"

"Yeah, he's okay with it. Gave me some ground rules though like I'm going to leave the damn state or something."

Jessica giggled, "You know, it's kinda surprising to see Edward be so social with you. The only people who he interacts with are his family. He went from being a dick to you to being your friend. It's really strange."

"Yeah, it is." Bella agreed. She seemed to be looking forward to the trip for than Bella. Bella guessed she just wanted to hear any juicy details about what may occur, but Bella didn't expect anything to happen between her and Edward. At least she thinks so.

The worst thing about today for Bella was Edward not being there even though she knew he wasn't going to be, but knowing he would be here tomorrow made her feel better. When she walked into the cafeteria with Mike and Jessica, she couldn't help but look at Edward's usual table where Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper sat talking among themselves. As if she could feel Bella's eyes on her, Rosalie took a glance at her and gave her an icy stare which made Bella quickly look away.

Sitting at there usual table, everyone was on the same page for their trip to La Push after school. Mike was really excited since the weather man had promised a warm, and sunny day for today. The weather for today was at least sixty four, so Bella hoped the outing wouldn't be to bad.

During Lunch, Bella had noticed Lauren giving her unfriendly looks which she didn't understand until they were walking out the lunch room. Bella was behind, a few feet back from Lauren's sunshine blonde hair and she was clearly unaware of that.

"..why doesn't Bella.." She had content in her voice when she said Bella's name, "go sit with the damn Cullens then?" Bella heard her mutter it to Mike. It surprised Bella that such an annoying voice could have so much malice in it. She didn't really know Lauren, nor had she ever spoken to her so it ticked Bella off a bit to see this girl who she doesn't even speak to be so nasty toward her.

"Chill out, Lauren, she's my friend." Mike whispered back loyally, which Bella appreciated. Not wanting to hear anymore, Bella walked passed them to get next to Angela and Jessica.

She didn't know what Lauren's problem was, but her best bet was to keep her distance from Bella and not say anything to her and Bella would gladly do the same.

After school, everyone met up at Mike's parents store. The Newtons Olympic outfitters store was just north of town. Bella has seen the store before, but never actually shopped there since she had no need to buy supplies or clothing required for camping and hiking. In the parking lot she noticed Jessica's Ford Tempo and Mike's Suburban. When she pulled up next to their vehicles, she could see the group standing around Mike's Suburban.

It was Eric, two other boys Bella had class with whose names were Ben and Conner. Jessica was there flanked by Angela and Lauren along with two other girls. One of the girls gave Bella a dirty look as soon as Bella got out of her truck and whispered something to Lauren. Lauren flipped her hair and gave Bella an icy glare which Bella returned. Seeing how Lauren and her crew were looking at Bella, Jessica and Angela immediately went to Bella's side ready to defend their friend and eyeing Lauren and other two girls scornfully.

Bella was not about drama or being catty; she hated to be that stereotype, but there was no way she was going to accept Lauren or anyone disrespecting her. As if on cue, Mike appeared with a more positive attitude.

"You're here!" he said delighted.

"I told you I would be," Bella replied.

"Yeah, you did. So, everything okay?"

Jessica spoke this time, "We're fine, babe." She gave Mike a kiss then eyed Lauren and co. "Just making sure _no one_ is giving Bella a hard time." She emphasized the no one part. Mike looked backed at Lauren and the other two girls with a confused look but they turned away talking among themselves.

Mike turned back toward them. "Um..Okay? Well, were just waiting for Samantha and Lee unless any of you invited someone," Mike said.

"I didn't," Bella said truthfully. Technically she did invite Edward, but he couldn't be here. Jessica and Angela said they didn't invite anyone else.

"Alright. Well, you can either ride with me or ride with Lee in his mom's minivan."

"I'll ride with you."

"I call shotgun though!" Jessica said as she went for Mike's car.

"Jess, you know I will always let you have shotgun," Mike said happily. Bella and Angela smiled at how head over heels Mike was for Jessica. They really did make a wonderful couple.

Everyone was ready to go once Lee and Samantha arrived. Lee brought two extra people who rode with him along with Lauren and her two friends which Bella was happy about since she didn't want to ride in the same car as her. In Mike's car, Bella sat in the back next to Angela who was in the middle with Samantha sitting on the other side of her while Jessica sat in the passenger seat in the front.

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quillayute River snaking beneath it twice. Bella was glad she had the window seat. She rolled the windows down of the Suburban because it was getting a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it and she was happy to get as much sunlight as possible.

She had been to the beaches around La Push many times during her summers in Forks with Charlie, so the mile-long crescent of First Beach was familiar to her. It was still breathtaking. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs.

The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves.

There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.

* * *

One they all arrived, they made their way down to the beach, Mike was leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like theirs before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and the boy Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

"Hey, Bella, have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked her. She was sitting on one of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side of her. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.

"Nope," she said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee.

"You'll like this then. Watch the colors." He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.

"It's blue," she said in surprise.

"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by Jessica who sat on the left side of her. Bella continued to watch the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky.

After a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to hike to the nearby tidal pools. Bella loved the tide pools. They had fascinated her since she was a child; they were the number one thing she looked forward to when she had to come to Forks. On the other hand, she had also fallen into them a lot. Not a big deal when you're seven and with your dad. It made her think of her promise to Edward to keep herself safe.

Bella; along with Jessica and Angela, decided to go on the hike with Mike and a few other kids while Lauren and some other girls stayed behind with Tyler and Eric staying with them. Bella hoped she didn't fall and embarrass herself in front of everyone while in the woods.

The hike wasn't too long, though Bella hated to lose the sky in the woods. The green light of the forest was strangely at odds with the adolescent laughter, too murky and ominous to be in harmony with the light banter around her. She had to watch each step she took very carefully, avoiding roots below and branches above, and she soon fell behind. Eventually she broke through the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shore again. It was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past them on its way to the sea.

Along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completely drained were teeming with life.

Bella was very cautious not to lean too far over the little ocean ponds. The others were fearless, leaping over the rocks, perching precariously on the edges. She found a very stable-looking rock on the fringe of one of the largest pools and sat there cautiously, spellbound by the natural aquarium below her. The bouquets of brilliant anemones undulated ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the edges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to the rocks and each other, while one small black eel with white racing stripes wove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return.

Bella decided to use her smart phone to take a video of her friends having the time of their lives and then record herself talking about the day she was having and finally taking pictures of the tide pools. She was completely absorbed, except for one small part of her mind that wondered what Edward was doing now, and trying to imagine what he would be saying if he were there with her. She couldn't wait to see him tomorrow.

Finally the boys were hungry, and she got up stiffly to follow them back. Bella tried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally she fell a few times which made her feel embarrassed about her clumsiness. She got some shallow scrapes on her palms, and the knees of her jeans were stained green, but it could have been worse. When they got back to First Beach, the group they'd left behind had multiplied. As they got closer they could see the Quileute teenagers from the reservation come to socialize.

The food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim a share while Eric introduced them as they each entered the driftwood circle. Angela and Bella were the last to arrive, and as Eric said their names, she noticed a boy around her age sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at her in interest. She sat down next to Angela, and Mike brought them sandwiches and an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be the oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with him. The only name Bella payed attention too, was the boy who noticed her and his name was Jacob.

It was relaxing to sit with Angela. She was a restful kind of person to be around and she didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter. Not that Bella didn't love being around Jessica, but it was nice when Angela just left you free to think undisturbed. They did however talk about Angela telling Jessica about this whole psychic thing. Angela was really nervous, but Bella assured her everything would be fine and to do it when she was ready.

During lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky, darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows across the beach, and blackening the waves. As they finished eating, people started to drift away in twos and threes. Some walked down to the edge of the waves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy surface. Others were gathering a second expedition to the tide pools. Mike and Jessica walked hand in hand to the one shops in the village. Some of the local kids went with them; others went along on the hike. By the time they all had scattered, Bella was sitting alone on her driftwood log, with Lauren and Tyler occupying themselves with Tyler's iPod Touch, and three teenagers from the reservation perched around the circle, including the boy named Jacob and the oldest boy who had acted as spokesperson.

Angela finally decided it was time to tell Jessica, and Bella assured her again she would fine and wished her luck. After Angela had left to find Jessica, Bella felt her phone vibrate in her left pants pocket. She pulled out her phone and smiled when she saw it was a text from her mom asking her how she was doing. They texted each other for a few seconds, and when they were done the boy named Jacob came and took a seat right next to her.

He was at least seventeen, and had neck length, wavy black hair which was tucked behind his ears and was the same height as Bella. His eyes were a deep brown and his beautiful, smooth skin a sepia, reddish-brown. He had a very boyish face that belonged on a teen magazine and had nice plump lips that would have girls dying to kiss him.

All in all, Jacob was a very attractive boy. Bella would be surprised if he wasn't in a relationship with someone.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but are you Isabella Swan?" Jacob asked.

"It's just Bella," she replied with a small smile.

"I'm Jacob Black." He held out his hand in a friendly gesture. "You brought my dad's truck."

"Oh! Yeah, you're Billy's son, hi." she said shaking his hand. "I'm so sorry I didn't remember you."

"It's all good. I'm the youngest in my family, but you would probably know my older twin sisters."

"Yeah, Rachel and Rebecca," Bella recalled. Billy and Charlie would find them all activities to do while they fished during Bella's summer visits. Bella mentally cringed thinking about the tantrums she threw that had ended the fishing trips by the time she was eleven.

"Are they here with you?" Bella asked, looking around to see if she could recognize them.

Jacob shook his head no. "Rachel got a scholarship to Juilliard, and Rebecca lives in Hawaii where she married a Samoan man."

"Wow. Rachel married really young," Bella said stunned. The twins were only one year older than Bella.

"So, do you like the truck? You can be honest if you don't," Jacob said.

"No, no, I love it. It runs really great and just my type of car."

"Yeah, but it's really slow," he laughed. "I was so relived when Charlie bought it. My dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there."

"It's not that slow," she objected.

"Have you tried to go over sixty?"

"No," Bella admitted.

"Good. Don't." He grinned.

Bella couldn't help grinning back. "It does great in a collision," she offered in her truck's defense.

"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed with another laugh.

"So you build cars?" she asked, impressed.

"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" he added jokingly. He had a pleasant, husky voice.

"Sorry," Bella laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes open for you." She didn't even know what that was. Jacob was very easy to talk with.

He flashed a beautiful smile which showed his dimples and his smile was so contagious she couldn't help but smile back. Jacob had such a positive energy, Bella couldn't help but feel relaxed around him, but that feeling washed away the moment she heard Lauren's voice.

"You know Jacob, Bella?" Lauren asked in an impertinent tone from across the fire.

Bella sighed and rolled her eyes not looking at her. "Yeah, We've known each other since we were kids."

"Isn't that sweet." She didn't sound like she thought is was sweet at all and turned back to Tyler. Jacob could see on Bella's face she clearly didn't like Lauren and gave her a "what's going on" look but Bella just waved it off indicating to Jacob to not pay Lauren any attention.

"Bella," she called again, watching Bella's annoyed face, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?" She had fake concern not only on her face, but in her voice.

Before Bella could respond to tell Lauren to stop talking to her, the eldest boy spoke up. "You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked, much to Lauren's irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.

"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.

"The Cullens don't come here." He said in a tone that made it clear it was the end of the discussion, and ignored her question.

Tyler won back Lauren's attention by showing her something on his iPod Touch.

Bella stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking away toward the dark forest behind them. He'd said that the Cullens didn't come to La Push, but his tone had implied something more. Like they weren't just not allowed; they were prohibited. His manner left a strange impression on her, and she tried to ignore it without success.

Jacob interrupted her thoughts. "So is Forks driving you crazy yet?"

"You have no idea." Bella said. He nodded in understanding.

She was still turning over the brief comment on the Cullens, so she decided she would try to see if Jacob was willing to elaborate more on it.

"Do you want to walk down the beach with me?" Bella asked.

"Sure," Jacob said happily.

* * *

As they walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwood seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea to darken and the temperature to drop. Bella shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket.

"How old are you, Jacob?" Bella asked. She decided to start off with small talk before she got to the point.

"I just turned seventeen in January," he replied.

"I thought you would be taller for your age."

He gave a small smile at that. "My dad is always telling me how I never grow despite all the healthy shit I eat."

"Do you visit Folks much?" she said curiously.

"Not that much," he admitted with a frown. "But when I get my car finished I can go up as much as I want after I get my license," he amended. Jacob then asked her a question that caught her off guard.

"So, what's the deal with you and that Lauren girl?" he asked.

"Nothing really. I don't even really know the girl, but she seems to dislike me."

"Why doesn't she like you?"

Bella sighed, "I honestly don't know. She just seems like a typical mean girl who's rude to people just for the hell of it." Her tone indicated she didn't really want to talk about Lauren and Jacob dropped the subject.

After a few moments of walking, Bella decided to get to the point and ask what she wanted to ask."Who was that other boy Lauren was talking too? He seemed a little old to be hanging out with us." She purposefully lumped herself in with the youngsters, trying to make it clear that she preferred Jacob.

"That's Sam. He's nineteen," he informed her.

"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" she asked.

"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." He looked away, out toward James Island, as he confirmed what she thought she'd heard in Sam's voice.

"Why not?"

He glanced back at her, biting his lip. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say anything about that."

"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." she said, wondering if she was sounding too desperate.

He smiled back, though, looking allured. Then he lifted one eyebrow and his voice was even huskier than before.

"Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.

"I love them," she enthused, smiling at him.

Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots while she sat beneath him on the body of the tree. He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his plump lips. Bella could see he was going to try to make this good. She focused on keeping the vital interest she felt out of my eyes.

"The Quileutes flourished in the territory which originally stretched from their isle-strewn Pacific beaches along the rain forest rivers to the glaciers of Mt. Olympus." He smiled, to show her how little stock he put in the histories. "According to our ancient creation story, the Quileutes were changed from wolves by a wandering transformer."

"It's not part of our legends, but there is a story about the evil ones." His voice dropped a little lower.

"The evil ones?" she asked intrigued.

"Yes. There are stories of the evil ones that go back decades, and some much more recent. According to my dad, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He made a treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes.

"Your great-grandfather?" Bella encouraged.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the evil ones are the natural enemies of the wolf. Well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one."

Bella stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise her impatience as admiration.

"So you see," Jacob continued, "the evil ones are traditionally the enemy of wolves. There story of the evil ones originated in Europe as a tale about them being cannibals that hunt humans. It spread to America and eventually forks. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did. They weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, he wouldn't expose them."

"If they weren't dangerous, then why?" She tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how seriously she was considering his ghost story.

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the evil ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into his tone.

"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"

"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead."

She tried to keep her voice casual. "So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the evil ones your greatgrandfather met?"

"No." He paused dramatically. "They are the same ones."

He saw the expression on Bella's face was fear inspired by his story. He smiled, pleased, and continued.

"There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my great-grandfather's time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before your people had even arrived." He was fighting a smile.

"And what are they?" she finally asked. "What are the evil ones?"

He smiled darkly.

"Vampires," he replied in a chilling voice.

A chill went through her entire body after he answered. She stared at him, not sure what her face was exposing.

"You look like you're about to shit yourself. And you have goose bumps," he laughed delightedly.

"No shit. You're a good storyteller," She complimented him, fixing her frightened expression.

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."

"Don't worry, I won't give you away." she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed.

"I'll take it to the grave," Bella promised, and then she shivered.

"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad at my dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since Dr. Cullen started working there."

"I won't, of course not."

"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" he asked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry.

She smiled at him as normally as she could.

"No. I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still have goose bumps, see?" She held up her arm.

"Cool." He smiled.

And then the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each other warned them that someone was approaching. Their heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away, walking toward them.

"There you are, Bella," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Jacob asked.

"No, definitely not. He's dating one of my best friends," she said pointing to Jessica. Bella was tremendously grateful to Jacob. Despite scaring her with his little tale, she offered to hang out again sometime because she really did enjoy his company and he happily accepted with the two exchanging numbers.

"Where have you been?" Jessica asked, as her and Mike approached them.

"Jacob was just telling me some local stories," Bella replied. "It was really interesting."

Bella smiled at Jacob warmly, with him giving a dimpled smile in return.

"Well, we're packing up. It looks like it's going to rain soon." Mike informed.

They all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.

"Okay." She jumped up. "I'm coming."

"It was nice to see you again," Jacob said.

"It really was. Next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I'll come, too," Bella promised.

A grin stretched across his face. "That would be cool. Make sure you call me so we can hang out again."

"Most definitely."

With that they went their separate ways and Bella pulled up her hood as they tramped across the rocks toward the parking lot. A few drops were beginning to fall, making black spots on the stones where they landed. They got to the Suburban where the others were already loading everything back in.

"Hey, Bella," Jessica whispered. "Angela told me some crazy shit earlier. I'll call you later and tell you about it."

Jessica got into the passenger seat of the Suburban before Bella could even respond back. She expected Jessica would probably take the whole Angela being psychic thing different than her, but she hoped Jessica would be at least understanding and supportive.

As Bella took her place in the back of the Suburban, her mind went back to Jacob's story about the evil ones. He had said the Cullens were like the evil ones and the evil ones were vampires. Her eyes widened as she put everything together. Edward Cullen and his family were vampires.


	6. PSA

Hello everyone. First off, I want to say I hope you all are having a good 2019, and thank you to anyone who has read or commented on this story. Truly does mean a lot. I have not updated this story in such a long time and felt like I should let everyone know I'm longer writing for this story. I've just been really busy with my personal life and on top of it all I just can't find any inspiration to write for this anymore, plus there are other stories I want to for. To be clear, I'm not saying I'll never write for this again. Just as of right now I just can't find the energy too. I'll will however leave the story up just in case I want to return to it in the future.

Anyway, I hope you all understand and I'm sorry it took so long to update this. Peace and love to everyone.


End file.
